Question of the Day

Did illegal voters swing any congressional races?

Unmasking actorsDespite overwhelming support among Americans for the ongoing U.S. military campaign against the terrorist perpetrators that struck at the heart of the nation on September 11, small but determined radical left-wing groups continue to mobilize against the U.S. anti-terrorism effort."These groups are diverse, drawing support from the anti-globalization movement, veteran anti-war organizations and certain members of academia and the entertainment industry," says Jack Tierney, a senior fellow at the Institute for World Politics who writes on the "Return of the Radical Left" for the Capital Research Center.Mr. Tierney says the groups constitute a "fringe movement" with little credibility in mainstream public opinion, but they still require monitoring. Who's behind the nascent movement?Here's just a partial list of signatories to an Institute for Policy Studies statement critical of U.S. military action against terrorism: Harry Belafonte, activist and entertainer Danny Glover, activist and entertainer Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Matt Damon, actor Ossie Davis, activist and entertainer Mike Farrell, actor (M*A*S*H) and producer Rosa Parks, civil rights leader Bonnie Raitt, entertainer Martin Sheen, activist and actor Gloria Steinem, feminist icon

Unmasking spiesThe much-anticipated International Spy Museum has set June for its opening in downtown Washington. The first-of-its-kind museum will explore the history, craft, practice and role of espionage in world events.In the meantime, we've been given a sneak peak into the spy museum's various galleries, which chronicle the history of spying from biblical times to spies among us today. And wait until museum-goers view the historical figures and celebrities unmasked as real-life spymasters and spies.George Washington, for example, is among the historical characters who figured prominently in the world of espionage. On the celebrity front, there is Josephine Baker, who, when not singing, worked for the French Resistance. Actress Marlene Dietrich, meanwhile, recorded pop songs for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) that were broadcast to German soldiers as American propaganda.And yes, that is noted chef Julia Child stirring up more than French haute cuisine in her skillet.Washington, as you've read over the years in this column, is rich with real-life espionage stories. Spies have walked the hallowed halls of Congress, foreign embassies and intelligence agencies from the time the city was born until today, as seen with the shocking arrest recently of FBI agent Robert P. Hanssen. If history is any indication, there are even more disturbing turncoats where Hanssen came from.Ironically, the museum will be located at 800 F Street NW, adjacent to FBI headquarters in a block of five buildings that includes the historic LeDroit and Atlas buildings, the latter which housed the former headquarters for the fourth district of the U.S. Communist Party from 1941 to 1948.

Third wheel?That was the Libertarian Party blowing out 30 birthday candles yesterday, marking three decades founded Dec. 11, 1971, in Colorado Springs as the "alternative" party in America."For 30 years, Republicans and Democrats have been hoping Libertarians will go away," says party national director Steve Dasbach, who pledges that the Libertarians will stick around until Republicans and Democrats "follow the Whigs into the history books."Some self-described Libertarians include actor and former politician Clint Eastwood, columnist Dave Barry, author Camille Paglia, and television newsmen John Stossell and Hugh Downs.

Butterfly and beeMuhammad Ali and his wife, Lonnie, will attend the Washington screening of the Columbia Pictures movie "Ali," to be held on Monday evening at the Uptown Theater on Connecticut Avenue.We're told the heavyweight champ will then head to the after-screening party at Cafe Milano in Georgetown."Ali" also is being shown in Chicago, Las Vegas and Louisville, Ky., the boxer's birthplace and site of his future museum, before its Christmas Day opening. Each screening is actually a fund-raiser for the Muhammad Ali Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution, to be completed in 2003.The film stars Will Smith.

Double dutyYou may think that I'm trying to shirkOr abusing a privilege or perk:Sure, I haven't left homeSince I had myself cloned,But I'm sending my double to work! F.R. Duplantier